10 medal-worthy GIFs from the Sochi Olympic Games

The winter Olympics are underway in Sochi, Russia right now, and depending on your location, local broadcasters are airing hour upon hour of coverage. Who’s got time for that, though? GIFs only take a few seconds and you can get the gist of what’s going on. Plus, no commercial breaks!
Click the gallery above to see each one of the animated pics and then check out the full explanations of each animation below, without your browser being weighed down by all those hefty GIFs.

Sochi construction

Sochi was a mid-size resort town before it won the right to host the Olympics. That set off a feverish race to build an Olympic complex beginning in 2005. There has been a lot of chatter about how rushed parts of the complex feel (some parts of it are still not finished), but this GIF puts things in persepective.

Snowboarding fall

This is the first year women are getting to compete in snowboarding events at the Olympics. In the slopestyle event, Sarka Pancochova from the Czech Republic was in contention for a medal until this fall. She got up and finished the course, but ended up with a concussion. The helmet probably saved her life.

Luge POV

The one-person luge is a risky sport. Broken bones and concussions are not uncommon. The GIF above shows you how fast racers can get going. There are actually uphill portions of the track that prevent help slow the racers down. Without this a luge sled could reach speeds of 100mph.

Creepy Sochi Mascot

Sochi has a number of quirky mascots including a leopard, a hare, and an anthropomorphized ray of light. There is also a polar bear, which is what you see in the GIF above. This character was at the opening ceremony, and it’s downright creepy. Who decided to make it blink like that? This thing is pure nightmare fuel.

Superman jump

This GIF shows Swedish skier Per Spett pulling off a Superman jump in the Men’s Mogul Final. Mogul is a type of freestyle skiing for displaying tricks, jumps, and turns. Impressive as this jump is, Spett still only managed an 11th place finish.

Opening ceremony fail

Something seems off about that logo…

An array of five glowing snowflakes suspended over the stadium at Sochi was supposed morph into five rings — the Olympic logo.

However, one failed to expand. Russian broadcasts switched away from the failed spectacle to a pre-recorded video of the rings working correctly.

Luge is dangerous

Hitting a turn in the luge places the rider under extreme g-forces. Even a small mistake can cause them to lose the sled and tumble off at over 50mph. This GIF makes it look pretty unpleasant.

Figure skating spins

Julia Lipnitskaia is only 15, but she’s seen as one of the most promising skaters in the world. I’ll wager most Geek readers don’t follow figure skating, but the GIF in the gallery up top is still cool. That’s Lipnitskaia completing about 35 full spins in 12 seconds. That works out to 175 rpm.

Skiing fall

Like the matching snowboarding event, slopestyle skiing is a freestyle event based on tricks and jumps. Canadian Yuki Tsubota was in fourth place when this fall happened, but she still managed to finish in sixth. The Sochi course has been heavily criticized for being too fast with aggressive slopes. You can see Tsubota’s right ski snap off as she lands.

Putin is pleased

This one is only tangentially related to the Olympics, but it did technically take place at the games. It would simply be nice if this became a reaction GIF. It’s just odd to see Putin offering a polite golf-clap.